Garrus was always careful not to draw attention to himself when making his way through large crowds, due to his time as the Archangel on Omega.
Maybe it was simply just an old habit that he needed to break. Luckily, he had outside help where that was concerned – the press were everywhere on the Citadel these days, cameras always ready to shoot and broadcast to anything with a view screen.
With the public announcement during of his promotion to General in the Turian Hierarchy and a hero of the Reaper War, Garrus' face was all over the place these days.
It was times like this that he was glad James and Grunt invited him to the Armax arena to blow off some steam. He hadn't had a chance to break out the Black Widow in months, and was eager for some action.
He slid his arena pass through the turnstile and strode towards the locker room to suit up. Vega and Grunt were already there, waiting for him.
"It's about time, Scars" Vega said, reminding Garrus of his nickname from the Normandy "Grunt is practically foaming at the mouth, wanting to kill something."
Garrus shook the big Marines hand and chuckled "I just wanted to give you boys a head start. I don't want to make you look too bad in the crowd's eyes."
"Heh, heh, heh" Grunt laughed as he shouldered his Claymore assault shotgun, a monster weapon that would shatter the arms and shoulders of any other race. "Let's do this."
As soon as Garrus finished putting his armor on, he checked the bolt on the rifle and his ammunition level, then joined James and Grunt in walking toward the Scenario Room, which allows combatants to choose what type of enemy they'd like to face, and how difficult the combat would be.
"Age before beauty, Vakarian." James said as he motioned towards the selection console. "What do you have in store for us? Platinum level, or are we going to soften it up a bit for you, since you're settling down and all?"
"Well, since we're so good at it now," Garrus, cockily "why don't we fight Reaper troops. Platinum level."
Grunt greedily slammed his fists together and roared, "These bastards don't stand a chance!"
With that, the buzzer telling the group to prepare for the battle to start sounded, and they made their way to the center of the arena. There's always a crowd at the battle arena, but the three crewmates weren't prepared for what they saw.
"News travels fast, I see." Garrus remarked off-handedly.
Apparently the word that General Vakarian, Lieutenant Vega and Urdnot Grunt, all heroes of the Reaper War and crew of the Normandy were about unleash hell together on the arena spread like wildfire, causing the audience area to become standing room only.
"No time to stand on ceremony, boys!" James shouted as he racked the slide on his rifle and activated incendiary rounds via his Omni-Tool.
The trio stood with their backs to each other as the secondary buzzer that signifies the start of the first round sounded and the scenery, along first wave of enemies appeared, brought to life by the projector above the arena floor.
As the men returned fire, James was the first to score a kill.
He turned to Garrus and smirked "Still want to give me a head start, Vakarian? Bring the noise!"
Well into round 7, the three fighters were on equal footing as far as the score was concerned, causing raucous cheers from the spectators in the wings. As the round came to an end, James jumped to first place on the team, due to a final shot that struck a Banshee between both eyes.
"Final round, boys." James said confidently, racking the slide into place after ejecting the thermal clip and slapping in a new one. "Time to separate the Men from the boys – I mean the Turians and Krogan."
"You're lucky I like you, Vega," Grunt growled, showing his teeth. "Not many people can insult a Krogan and live to tell about it. The fight isn't over yet, pretty boy!"
"Get ready, here come the big ones!" Garrus said swapping his assault rifle to the open section on his back plate, looking for a vantage point that would allow him to unleash the Widow.
As the buzzer sounded, the trio was met by a group of 6 brutes, charging through, and attempting to destroy everything in their path.
From his vantage point behind a wall, Garrus was able to quickly train the massive rifle's sights on each of the massive creatures and take them out with a single shot to their heads.
His skill with the big rifle quickly turned the tables around and Garrus shot to the top of the scoreboard.
As the final buzzer sounded and the arena went quiet, the announcement came over the speakers declaring Garrus the winner.
Disappointed, James and Grunt came over to congratulate the Turian. "Good going, Scars. Rematch?"
"Another time, Lieutenant." Garrus replied as he returned the handshakes. "Come on, drinks are on me."
"You're on, Vakarian," James replied. "You're so on."